S&M Racing

SpeedTrial Event
Virginia International Raceway
February 23rd and 24th, 2002

This was my first event with in-car and classroom instruction, and I would recommend it without hesitation to anyone. VIR is a challenging course, and was the first time I really had to deal with elevation changes. I was very lucky to have Warren from Honda-Tech as my instructor, he is an exceptional Type R driver, and riding shotgun with him in his race-prepped R was a real eye opener. I also rode with two CW ITR drivers, both named chris, one of whom is an east coast ITA champion. He trail-braked his bone-stock R on steel wheels around VIR, drifting as smoothly as you or I might navigate a parking lot....it was a remarkable display of car control. I know now that my Type R has more than enough power for me, I'm not going to screw with it until I can drive at least as well as the instructors I rode with. Warren rode with me for my 8 on-track excursions, offering pointers on the line, general tips on track driving, and yelling "GAS GAS GAS" whenever I was anywhere near decelerating on the uphill esses or roller coaster. By the end of day two, I was feeling comfortable with the line, and was getting better at dealing with traffic (can't drive those mirrors) and keeping my vision further ahead than the next turn...but I still have a LONG way to go in a lot of areas. I can't wait to drive here again! A few stories/comments before the pics:

FIRST LOOK: Before I drove on track, I rode with Warren in his R on saturday morning. He handed me earplugs before we got started, which lead me to believe it was going to be a spicy meatball. Warren. is. fast. I could not believe how fast we were going through the uphill Esses (oh chit that's 120)...blind corners are really interesting when you don't know what's on the other side (where'd the track go? sheezus!). Unreal.

EXPLODING MIATA: I was riding with Warren in his R for the second time, and we came down the front straight to see a turbocharged miata smoking a bit more than normal from the exhaust...through turn one and turn two, the gap narrows to maybe 15 feet...the tail of the Miata jigged to the left, and smoke began billowing violently out of the front. Oil coated the already filthy front of Warren's R, and then a few pieces of engine(!) bounced from under the car and hit the nose of the R....being a man of mad skillz0rs, warren smoothly dove for the grass on the left, and then brought it back on track as gently as you'd lay a baby down in its crib at about 70MPH (any less smooth and we'd have spun for sure). Video of this to be available as soon as Warren encodes it.

ELEVATION CHANGES: There are a few places on track where you have to keep accelerating once you've commited to the series of turns, particularly the uphill esses and roller coaster. This is just freaking awesome when you nail it. I hope to have some track video soon, but even that does not do it justice. Drive VIR. Now to the pics!